How can anybody choose the Prime 50 greatest Chess Information singles and never upset at the least a couple of devotees? Eliminating singles from amongst a whole bunch of worthy candidates from your complete Chess roster is sure to attract hearth from followers. Actually, you may simply discover 50 reputable classics solely from among the many firm’s largest stars – Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Etta James.
However house owners Leonard and Phil Chess all the time thought broadly and seemed to widen their music’s attraction. That’s clear from their historical past, which started with a give attention to blues and jazz, moved to rock’n’roll, after which to soul music as they reacted to altering public tastes whereas concurrently advancing these tastes with groundbreaking releases. So, in that spirit of breadth, listed below are the 50 greatest Chess Information singles – many well-known, some not so well-known – so that you can talk about and debate, however primarily to listen to and think about.
Muddy Waters: “I Can’t Be Satisfied”/ “(I Feel Like) Going Home”
In 1948, on the finish of his third session for Aristocrat Information, Muddy requested producer and label co-owner Leonard Chess if he might document some tracks “by myself,” with out piano accompaniment, the best way he initially performed when he was nonetheless a Mississippi discipline employee. Chess agreed and Muddy reprised these two songs that he had recorded seven years earlier in his cabin for the Library Of Congress. Muddy once more performed the Delta blues, echoing his plaintive vocals, however on electrical slide guitar with an city rhythm. The mix of nation and metropolis on each tracks linked with Chicago listeners. The disc bought out its preliminary urgent in two days, turning into the primary hit, albeit regionally, for each Muddy and the label that will turn out to be Chess Information.
Robert Nighthawk: “Sweet Black Angel”
Looking for extra electrified nation blues, Chess recorded this track by Robert Lee McCollum (at Muddy’s urging) for Aristocrat in 1949. The track dated again to 1930, however Nighthawk’s model impressed BB King to cowl it in ’56 as “Sweet Little Angel.” BB’s model grew to become an enormous hit and a blues normal, included on the Rock And Roll Corridor Of Fame’s 1995 listing of 500 songs that formed rock’n’roll. Two years later, Nighthawk’s model was inducted into the Blues Basis’s Corridor Of Fame. It was additionally the primary Chess-owned document to incorporate bass participant Willie Dixon, the ever-present Chess musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer.
Gene Ammons And His Sextet: “My Foolish Heart”
The primary launch on the Chess label in 1950 adopted a development of pop hits being recorded by jazz and R&B artists, and this one featured Ammons’ tenor sax enjoying a jazz model of the million-selling Billy Eckstine vocal line. It made the R&B Prime 10 after simply two weeks and stayed for 2 weeks. The Chess brothers gave the document {the catalogue} quantity Chess 1425, honoring their immigrant father’s first house in Chicago, 1425 South Karlov Avenue.
Jackie Brenston And His Delta Cats: “Rocket 88”
Who had been these guys? Really, they had been Ike Turner’s Kings Of Rhythm, wherein Brenston was a sax participant and vocalist on this 1951 track recorded in Memphis. Some name it the primary rock’n’roll track ever recorded, citing the uncooked, distorted guitar and the automotive theme – an emblem of private freedom – as qualities that separate it from the bounce blues, wherein there’s no distortion and an affinity for trains. Perhaps. The listening public certain embraced it. It spent 5 weeks on the high of the R&B chart and enjoys an enduring legacy as probably the greatest Chess data.
The Howlin’ Wolf: “Moanin’ At Midnight”/ “How Many More Years”
This 1951 Chess debut for Chester Burnett, aka Howlin’ Wolf, additionally emerged from Memphis, with “Moanin’ At Midnight” because the “plug” aspect. DJs and jukebox listeners ultimately flipped it and the B-side grew to become much more well-liked. “How Many More Years” is one other candidate for the world’s first rock’n’roll track, owing to its drums and bass, that are increased within the combine than on earlier blues data. There’s additionally Wolf’s fuzzy guitar lick, his strumming what we now name energy chords, and Ike Turner’s rocking piano.
Harmonica Frank: “Howlin’ Tomcat”
Nearly forgotten at the moment, Mississippi-born Frank Floyd was a blues, people, and hillbilly one-man band and mimic, who performed touring carnivals and medication exhibits, and carried out on radio. Sam Phillips recorded him in Memphis at Solar Studio in 1951, shortly earlier than promoting Floyd’s sides to Chess. This one got here out in ’52.
Willie Mabon: “I Don’t Know”
Mabon’s best-known document could be “The Seventh Son,” written by Willie Dixon and coated by many. However this humorous and funky 1952 Chess single grew to become the label’s all-time largest vendor within the days earlier than rock’n’roll, sprinkling its gooba mud atop the R&B charts for eight weeks – an excellent cause for together with it this rundown of the very best Chess Information. It was coated too, early on by Tennessee Ernie Ford (one of many first cases of a white artist waxing an R&B hit) and later by John Belushi on the primary Blues Brothers album.
Little Walter: “Juke”
Marian Walter Jacobs had performed in Muddy Waters’ group since 1950 and recorded with Muddy since ’51, however this was the primary time he led a session. Walter’s revolutionary soloing yielded this No.1 R&B smash – nonetheless the one blues harmonica instrumental to ever attain that plateau – that stayed on the charts for 20 weeks. It was additionally the first-ever launch on the Chess Information’ Checker subsidiary.
Eddie Boyd: “Third Degree”
A cousin of Muddy Waters, hailing from the identical Mississippi plantation, Boyd reunited along with his kin in Chicago and so they often performed collectively, together with in a single band with Sonny Boy Williamson II. However in comparison with Muddy’s rougher guitar fashion, Eddie the pianist most popular a sleeker strategy to the blues. He’d already had an enormous hit with “Five Long Years,” and with this mournful 1953 Chess single, co-written with Willie Dixon, he had his final big-seller, peaking at No.3 on the R&B chart. Eric Clapton appeared to really feel it was probably the greatest Chess data on supply; a couple of months after Boyd died in 1994, Slowhand coated each “Five Long Years” and “Third Degree” on his Grammy-winning From The Cradle album.
Sugar Boy And His Cane Cutters: “Jock-A-Mo”
Recorded in New Orleans, this 1953 Checker single by no means grew to become a success, however was coated 12 years later by The Dixie Cups as “Iko Iko,” and gained worldwide recognition via variations by Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, Natasha England, The Belle Stars, and others. James “Sugar Boy” Crawford wrote it by combining phrases from completely different chants he heard Mardi Gras Indians cry out throughout conventional road confrontations between tribes. Requested 50 years later by {a magazine} interviewer what the phrase “jock-a-mo” meant, he laughingly answered, “I really don’t know.”
Lowell Fulson: “Reconsider Baby”
A reluctant Leonard Chess OKed Fulson recording this good 1954 Checker single in Dallas along with his touring band. Good factor he did, as a result of all the weather – Fulson’s magnificent guitar, the driving beat, insistent horns, robust lyrics, and assured vocals – resulted in Fulson’s greatest Chess Information launch, giving him his largest hit and making this West Coast blues a much-loved normal.
Muddy Waters: “I’m Ready”
The third of three 1954 Chess releases by Muddy to make the higher reaches of the R&B chart (the earlier two had been ‘”I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and “I Just Want To Make Love To You”) is steadily lauded for Little Walter’s good harmonica solo. However don’t promote Muddy brief as his power-punching supply matches Willie Dixon’s lyrics for his or her, as one critic put it, “believable malevolence.”
Howlin’ Wolf: “Evil (Is Going On)”
Recorded in Might 1954, this Chess single has some historic weight to it along with being prime Wolf materials and a steadily coated blues normal. It was the primary Willie Dixon composition Wolf recorded and Wolf’s first recording session with Hubert Sumlin, his long-time bandmate. He re-cut “Evil” in 1969 with wah-wah guitar accompaniment, and that model was Wolf’s final single to chart.
The Moonglows: “Sincerely”
With their trademark “blow harmonies” inserting them among the many period’s nice doo-wop teams, The Moonglows loved their largest hit on their late-1954 Chess debut. Written by group member Harvey Fuqua (and, ostensibly, supervisor and famed DJ Alan Freed) with Bobby Lester singing lead, “Sincerely” topped the R&B charts and hit No.20 on the Pop chart. The McGuire Sisters instantly coated it, promoting 1,000,000 copies of their model.
The Hawketts: “Mardi Gras Mambo”
Like “Jock-A-Mo,” this N’awlins normal wanted time to realize reputation after its preliminary 1955 launch. However Chess reissued it yearly round Mardi Gras time and it grew right into a perennial favourite. Propelled by John Boudreaux’s drums, the track featured younger singer and pianist Artwork Neville making his recording debut – the primary time any Neville brother reduce a disc. The Hawketts by no means made one other document, however The Neville Brothers have by no means stopped.
Little Walter: “My Babe”
Like so many different African-American secular hits, Walter’s second No.1 R&B document was primarily based on a gospel track – “This Train,” initially recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. One among Willie Dixon’s greatest Chess Information efforts (and the one Dixon-penned observe to ever hit the highest spot), the songwriter had tried it on Walter in 1954, however then restructured it the next 12 months, a couple of days after enjoying on a gospel session for Chess that included a model of “This Train.”
Chuck Berry And His Combo: “Maybellene”
As with a couple of Chess superstars, a dozen sometimes witty Berry singles might legitimately make this listing of the 50 greatest Chess Information singles. However his 1955 debut, which captured Billboard‘s Triple Crown – No.1 on all three R&B charts – set the standard for the man, the label, and the genre. With its roots in the country hit “Ida Red,” the template for rock’n’roll greatness is all there: the massive beat, the fuzzy guitar, the barrelling tempo, and intelligent lyrics about quick automobiles and quick ladies.
Bo Diddley: “I’m A Man”
The origins of Ellis McDaniel’s “Bo Diddley beat” have by no means been definitively pinpointed, seemingly as a result of it was the synthesis of many sources. Regardless, it emerged on his 1955 Checker debut single, made him a rock’n’roll pioneer, and music was by no means the identical. Diddley recycled it on subsequent hits, all with that watery tremolo guitar sound, and the beat lived on, adopted and tailored by Buddy Holly, Johnny Otis, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and numerous others. On the flip-side, Bo established his audacious persona by appropriating one other man’s beat, that of Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man.” Muddy repaid the favor by later refashioning “I’m A Man” as “Mannish Boy.”
Bobby Charles: “Later Alligator”
You’ll be able to’t discover a extra iconic 50s rock’n’roll track than “See You Later, Alligator.” Recorded in New Orleans, the unique’s R&B shuffle rhythm and backing horn part testify to its composer’s intention that it’s coated by Fat Domino. That by no means occurred, however Invoice Haley And His Comets tackled the track in 1956. The unique was written and sung by 17-year-old Louisiana native Bobby Charles Guidry, whose stage identify was modified by Leonard Chess when he launched the track, as “Later Alligator,” in 1955.
Sonny Boy Williamson II: “Don’t Start Me Talkin’”
Name him Rice Miller or Sonny Boy II, or no matter you need; his trademark sly vocals, wry lyrics, and razor-sharp harmonica thrust this 1956 debut single for Checker to No.3 on Billboard‘s R&B chart. He had a monster band behind him, too: Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, and Fred Beneath.
Howlin’ Wolf: “Smokestack Lightning”
Owing a lot to The Mississippi Sheiks’ “Stop And Listen,” this 1956 single is, very merely, Wolf at his strongest, howling greatest – and hands-down probably the greatest Chess data releases. His anguished vocal, his echoing harmonica, his backing band (and particularly Hubert Sumlin’s continuous riff) mixing superbly. One chord by no means sounded so good.
Chuck Berry: “Too Much Monkey Business”/ “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”
Not all Chuck’s songs had been about enjoyable, automobiles, and women. On his greatest Chess Information two-sided hit single, from 1956, he paired a proto-rap lamentation on his disgust for all kinds of “botheration” (actually an inspiration for Bob Dylan‘s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”) with a sly tribute to males of colour, the issues they face, their intercourse attraction and even their emergence as US mass tradition heroes – on this case, on the ball discipline. By then, Chuck, too, had turn out to be a cultural hero.
Bo Diddley: “Who Do You Love?”
It’s not the Bo Diddley beat, however the strutting rhythm that served as the muse for Bo to win over Arlene along with his private model of voodoo, an idea he admittedly swiped from Muddy’s “Hoochie-Coochie Man.” Arlene advised him she understood and, by the top of this much-covered, highly-lauded 1956 Checker single, so does the listener.
Jimmy Rogers: “Walking By Myself”
Inexplicably, this one solely charted for one week in 1957, hitting No.14 on Billboard‘s R&B list, but you won’t discover a higher instance of Chicago blues. Rogers was fronting his personal band, years after enjoying in Muddy’s, when “Walking By Myself” was reduce, along with his straightforward vocals and excellent accompaniment by harpist Large Walter Horton.
Dale Hawkins: “Suzie Q”
From the drop of the needle on this 1957 Checker single, the drums, cowbell, and James Burton’s swampy guitar seize you, even earlier than Hawkins’ clear vocal slides in. Burton’s solos shine as Dale screams encouragement, making this an important choose from the very best Chess Information rockabilly cuts. Hawkins paid a Louisiana radio station $25 to let his group document it throughout off hours. A good funding – it was honored by The Rock And Roll Corridor of Fame as one of many 500 songs that formed rock’n’roll.
Harvey & The Moonglows: “Ten Commandments Of Love”
The doo-wop period was ending and The Moonglows had been in turmoil, however they managed their ultimate chart hit in 1958, gloriously harmonizing behind Harvey Fuqua’s lead and making a much-covered normal by everybody from David Houston & Barbara Mandrell to Bob Marley And The Wailers. If you happen to hear carefully, you’ll uncover there isn’t any tenth commandment.
Chuck Berry: “Johnny B Goode”
Of all his (or anybody’s) anthems to rock’n’roll, none resonated louder than this 1958 Chess single – and that features Chuck’s personal “Roll Over Beethoven,” coated by The Beatles. From the guitar intro (taken from Louis Jordan’s 1946 hit “Ain’t That Just Like A Woman”) to the rousing refrain, it embodies each younger guitar slinger’s fondest desires and aspirations. Not solely probably the greatest Chess Information releases, however probably the greatest rock’n’roll cuts of all time.
Etta James: “All I Could Do Was Cry”
On her good 1960 Argo debut album, At Final!, Etta James righteously wailed on a track written by a formidable trio that included Billy Davis, who would quickly be Chess’ A&R boss and helm their transfer to soul music; Berry Gordy, who was simply beginning Motown Information; and Gwen Gordy, Berry’s sister who began Anna Information with Davis. “All I Could Do Was Cry” was first supplied to Erma Franklin (Aretha’s older sister) as an inducement to affix Anna. However with Erma leaning towards jazz, they bought it to Chess, who used it to launch Etta’s profitable tenure there.
Howlin’ Wolf: “Spoonful”
Bluesmen had been singing about wanting a spoonful since at the least the 20s, if not earlier, however when Willie Dixon married that theme with Wolf’s penchant for one-chord compositions, the end result was their strongest collaboration. This 1960 traditional could not have charted (a model on Chess by Etta James and Harvey Fuqua did), but it surely stays a seminal recording, up there with the easiest Chess data.
Elmore James: “Madison Blues”
The extremely influential blues guitarist, singer, and composer had two stints with Chess, one within the early 50s and one other round 1960 that produced this single. Nothing he recorded for Chess ever charted, however this document’s afterlife included noteworthy covers by Fleetwood Mac and George Thorogood And The Destroyers.
Etta James: “At Last”
Glenn Miller recorded the unique model in 1941, however Etta’s supple studying 20 years later, on Argo (organized by Riley Hampton), stands because the definitive efficiency – a lot so, that it was inducted into the Grammy Corridor Of Fame, eternally cementing its standing as probably the greatest Chess Information singles. “At Last” has been endlessly coated, danced-to at weddings, utilized in movies and commercials, and famously carried out at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration by Beyoncé, who had performed James within the movie Cadillac Information. Etta’s model eclipses all of them.
Jan Bradley: “Mama Didn’t Lie”
Curtis Mayfield was simply beginning to write for different acts in addition to his personal Impressions in 1963 when Dan Talty, who owned a small Chicago document label, introduced him Jan Bradley. Curtis composed an ideal track for her youthful soprano voice, Talty produced it and Chess agreed to take the recording nationwide. It rose as excessive as No.4 on the Cashbox R&B chart and No.14 on Billboard‘s Pop chart.
Sonny Boy Williamson II: “Help Me”
Based mostly on Booker T & The MGs’ hit “Green Onions,” this 1963 Checker single was a global hit, particularly in England, owing largely to Sonny Boy’s first European tour, and his staying in England afterward and enjoying the native beat golf equipment. This recording, his first with an organ behind him, was inducted into the Blues Basis Corridor Of Fame.
Mitty Collier: “I Had A Talk With My Man”
This 1964 Chess single got here immediately from gospel music – particularly James Cleveland And The Angelic Choir’s 1962 recording “I Had A Talk With God Last Night.” Keyboardist Leonard Caston Jr had introduced Cleveland’s document to the Chess studio and, together with producer Billy Davis, reworked it for Mitty’s wealthy contralto, augmented by strings, French horns, and gospel piano touches.
Chuck Berry: “You Never Can Tell”
Whereas merely a decent-sized hit on the time of its 1964 launch, this paean to homegrown philosophy has lasting endurance, coated by all kinds of artists in all kinds of genres, and famously used within the movie Pulp Fiction. As Chuck sang, “C’est la vie, say the old folks/Goes to show you never can tell.”
Jackie Ross: “Selfish One”
Chess had loved nice success with robust ladies singers resembling Etta James, however when softer soul sounds got here into vogue, the label responded with artists the likes of Jackie Ross. This 1964 hit, her largest, reached No.4 on Cashbox‘s R&B chart. It had an unusual function: two instrumental prospers within the intro, the primary of which was used later by Edwin Starr in his hit “SOS,” whereas the second borrowed the melody from the often-recorded normal “Tenderly.”
Little Milton: “We’re Gonna Make It”
The mid-century advances of the Civil Rights Motion and small financial features yielded a extra optimistic, if tentative, mindset amongst African-People that discovered its reflection in music. The blues diminished in reputation and, by 1965, songs like this stuffed the airwaves. At six toes and 240 kilos, East St Louis’s Milton Campbell was hardly little, and he had an enormous voice to match his true measurement.
Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces: “Searching For My Love”
The primary Chess hit to be recorded within the then-emerging recording mecca of Muscle Shoals featured the wistful voice of Chico Jenkins and Moore’s tenor gliding alongside. The double-timed bridge additionally helped propel this super-infectious 1966 Checker single into the R&B Prime 10 and the Pop Prime 30, the one main entry for Moore’s Montgomery, Alabama, journeymen.
Ramsey Lewis Trio: “Hang On Sloopy”
Musical worlds wildly collide on this second of three Prime 10 pop instrumental hits by Lewis and his group, who magically reworked a chart-topping storage band smash by The McCoys right into a stay jazz observe. It was set not in some smoky bar, however in a hand-clapping, 1965 go-go discotheque with a singalong frat-rock refrain. Bassist Eldee Younger and drummer Crimson Holt swing the rhythm that Lewis’ piano playfully dances upon. They might not have answered the age-old query of simply who Sloopy is, however they actually laid naked the bluesy roots of rock’n’roll for all to listen to on probably the greatest Chess Information singles of the 60s.
Billy Stewart: “I Do Love You”
He was nicknamed Fats Boy however his associates known as him Motormouth, and Stewart’s distinctive soul scatting included staccato lyrical repetition and a hovering falsetto that heightened the emotional depth of his releases. He was at his greatest on ballads, and none had been higher than this 1965 self-penned Chess hit.
Fontella Bass: “Rescue Me”
One of many biggest-selling data within the label’s historical past, “Rescue Me” stays probably the greatest Chess Information soul outings, and has had a protracted life because of oldies radio airplay, quite a few covers and its use in commercials and movies. The product of a 1965 in-studio jam session between Bass, songwriters Carl Smith and Raynard Minor, and producer Billy Davis, the completed observe shines because of Fontella’s interesting vocals, Louis Satterfield’s effervescent bassline, and Gene Barge’s authoritative horn association.
Billy Stewart: “Summertime”
You need to marvel what George Gershwin would have considered his languid deep South ballad from Porgy And Bess, re-imagined and radically reworked right into a Chicago soul stomper. Produced by Billy Davis, organized by Phil Wright, Stewart takes middle stage, stuttering and yelping his means from begin to end. It reached the Prime 10 on each Pop and R&B charts, so Gershwin would have at the least been happy along with his royalty test.
Etta James: “Tell Mama”/”I’d Relatively Go Blind”
Etta hadn’t had an enormous hit in 4 years when Leonard Chess, searching for a deeper soul sound for the singer, booked her into Muscle Shoals’ FAME Studio in 1967. Rick Corridor picked ‘Tell Mama’ for her, written and initially recorded by Clarence Carter as “Tell Daddy.” Singer, track, and studio meshed completely, leading to a Prime 10 R&B and Prime 25 pop success. The flip-side was co-written by James and her buddy Ellington “Fugi” Jordan whereas he was imprisoned. Although it didn’t chart, it grew to become considered one of her signature tunes and noticed one other probably the greatest Chess Information be a part of the canon of soul music’s best ballads, coated numerous instances on each side of the Atlantic.
The Dells: “Stay In My Corner”
The Illinois quintet’s first model for Vee-Jay three years earlier received very modest consideration, however they re-cut it in 1968 at a slower tempo for his or her debut Cadet LP, singing the identical prolonged model they carried out in live performance, vamping extensively between the bridge and the outro. Regardless of working over six minutes, radio play compelled Chess to launch it as a single, and it shot to No.1 on the R&B chart and No.10 on the Pop chart.
Andre Williams: “Cadillac Jack”
A purveyor of untamed, funky novelty data, a lot of which foreshadowed rap, Williams by no means loved a significant hit, however by no means lacked for power both. He labored as singer, songwriter, and producer for a lot of labels, and his Chess output included this humorous however cautionary 1968 story a few legendary South Aspect Chicago road hustler who ended up worse than unhealthy, unhealthy Leroy Brown. Jim Croce’s creation may effectively have been impressed by Jack.
Observe the Chess Information Important playlist for extra of the very best Chess Information.
